Venus in Krittika Nakshatra (Shukra in कृत्तिका)

Krittika, the 3rd of the 27 nakshatras, covers 26°40′ – 40°00′ of the sidereal zodiac, across the boundary between Aries and Taurus. Krittika is ruled by the Sun, so Venus in Krittika stands in the Sun’s star.

Venus and the Sun count each other an enemy, so in Krittika the graha and the lord of its star agree about each other. The other two nakshatras the Sun rules, Uttara Phalguni and Uttara Ashadha, put Venus under the same star lord.

Venus in Krittika, Pada by Pada

By rashi, Venus in Krittika is in a neutral sign in pada 1 (Aries) and in its own sign in padas 2, 3 and 4 (Taurus), because Krittika crosses from Aries into Taurus. By navamsa the four padas fall in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Venus’s strongest navamsa in Krittika is pada 4 (Pisces, exalted), and its weakest is pada 1 (Sagittarius, in a neutral sign).

Neither Venus’s deepest exaltation (Pisces) nor its deepest debilitation (Virgo) degree falls inside Krittika, and Venus’s moolatrikona lies outside it as well, so in Krittika the rashi and navamsa verdicts above are the whole of Venus’s dignity.

When Venus Is in Krittika, 2026–2028

• 16 April 2026: Venus enters Krittika, and leaves on 27 April 2026 — 11 days.
• 1 June 2027: Venus enters Krittika, and leaves on 12 June 2027 — 11 days.
• 25 March 2028: Venus enters Krittika, and leaves on 9 April 2028 — 15 days.
• 15 June 2028: Venus enters Krittika while retrograde, backing in from the next nakshatra, and leaves on 30 June 2028 — 15 days.

Those are the four spells Venus spends in Krittika between 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2029, 52 days in all. Over the same span Venus stands in every one of the 27 nakshatras. The dates are days only; for Venus in Krittika a minute would be more precise than the ayanamsa behind it.

Inside Krittika: what the tables locate there for Venus

Of the 84 complete spells Venus has in the table, in any nakshatra, the shortest is 10 days and the longest 43; the Krittika spells, at 11, 11, 15 and 15 days, sit inside that range.

The retrograde table runs from 2024 to 2031, wider than the ingress table, and it places one of Venus's stations in Krittika. On 23 June 2028 Venus stations direct inside Krittika, in pada 4. At a station Venus’s motion is at its slowest, so these are the days it is most nearly still in Krittika.

Krittika as the Setting for Venus

In the nakshatra tables Krittika’s deity is listed as Agni and its symbol as razor; its gana is Rakshasa, and the muhurta texts put it in the Mishra class (mixed). Those belong to Krittika whichever graha is in it, and they are read on the Krittika page. What changes with Venus is everything above: the dignities in Aries and Taurus, the relation to the Sun, and the dates. None of it is a prediction for anyone born with Venus in Krittika; the house it occupies and the dasha running decide what the placement does in a chart.

Related Placements

The sign-level reading is on Venus in Aries and Venus in Taurus; Venus in all 27 nakshatras is on the Venus nakshatra table. For the nakshatras themselves, see the 27 nakshatras guide and astrology for beginners.

The Other Grahas in Krittika